What Teachers Need to Know About Team Teaching

Our Education Blogger is a public school teacher with over a decade of experience. She’s an active NEA member and enjoys writing about her experiences in the classroom.

Are you curious about team teaching? Team teaching can be beneficial to students and teachers. We have answers to some of your team teaching questions!

What is Team Teaching?

usually occurs in inclusion classrooms

two or more teachers working together to teach a group of students

together, teachers plan, organize, teach, and evaluate

teams may be single-discipline, interdisciplinary, or school-within-a-school

co-teaching = general education teacher + special education teacher

team teaching = both teachers plan and teach lessons

parallel teaching = each teacher instructs half of the class, same lesson

alternative teaching = one teacher instructs a small group of struggling students while the other teachers the larger group, might be same lesson or struggling group may receive extra support on previous lessons

teacher and assistant = one teacher instructs while other teacher monitors and assists students as necessary, this can also be used in a teacher/observer manner to gather data regarding student progress

How does it benefit students?

students receive more individual attention

students learn from teachers with different teaching styles, experience, perspectives, and ideas

improved student-teacher relationships

students achieve at higher levels

daily consistency: the likelihood of both partners being absent is slim

Team teaching can be rewarding for students and teachers. If this sounds like an adventure upon which you’d like to embark, begin by talking with your administrator and potential teaching partner(s). In some cases, it may take up to a year to prepare for a team taught classroom, so begin your team teaching dialogue sooner rather than later.

Have you team taught or co-taught before? In the comments below, please share your team teaching advice!

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